


Cougar: the True Adventures of a Sniper and a Were-Jaguar

by vampyreranger



Category: The Losers (2010), The Losers - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, Oral Sex, Romance, Schmoop, Spanish Kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-23
Updated: 2011-07-23
Packaged: 2017-10-21 16:19:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/227171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vampyreranger/pseuds/vampyreranger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carlos Alvarez is many things, a sniper, a soldier, a friend, and a were-jaguar. If that weren't bad enough, he must find a mate by his thirtieth birthday or suffer dire consequences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cougar: the True Adventures of a Sniper and a Were-Jaguar

**Author's Note:**

> This goes out to the wonderful, beautiful, immensely patient rin2x who won a fic from me like a year ago at help_japan and made several donations to awesome charities. I promised you 1000 words and for your patience you get 2,251 and the honor of receiving the longest thing I've ever written.
> 
> The supernatural/fairy tale elements are taken from the Olmec tradition of the were-jaguar with a little Beauty and the Beast mixed in. There's a little Spanish sprinkled throughout, but nothing too complex. Let me know if a glossary is wanted/needed. This is unbetaed because I'm too excited to wait to give it to my lovely donor. Anyone who would like to look it over and edit it for me would have my undying devotion and I'll add the edits later.

For as long as Carlos Alvarez could remember, he was different. Not only was he intense, smart as hell, and talked so rarely that others assumed he was mute, but he had the curse of turning into a jaguar. He shifted during the new moon every month like clockwork as well as when his emotions ran out of control or any other time his body wanted to fuck him over.

As he grew older and learned to control his emotions, the spontaneous metamorphoses slowed to a trickle and eventually stopped. Carlos began to hope that his curse was wearing off or at least only a monthly aberration that he could work his life around. He was even recruited for special sniper training by the United States military. Things were really looking up.

The night before Carlos was set to leave for boot camp and further specialized training, his grandmother came to say goodbye and drop the mother of all bombshells. She explained that he was a were-jaguar descended from a line of shifters dating back to the Olmec civilization of early Mesoamerica. That would have been easy enough to handle given how early his powers had manifested but what she said next was something out of a fairytale, a dark nightmarish fable.

Abuela reached out and grasped one of Carlos’ strong, calloused hands in her own tiny, soft hands spotted with freckles and age spots as she spoke portentously, “Nieto, you have a long and painful journey ahead of you. Life for those gifted with the blood of the Jaguar god is a hard and lonely one, often punctuated by an early death. Beware, for if you do not find your heart’s mate by your thirtieth birthday you too shall die alone and friendless, long before your time.”

“But abuela,” Carlos sputtered. “This is loco! How could such a thing be fatal? And how could I possibly find this chosen mate with no clues as to their identity? I don’t even know where they live or whether they are male or female!”

Abuela raised her hand to stem the tide of endless questions. “You will simply know mi angel,” she replied gently. “Your mind and heart will become one in pursuit of su corazon. The feelings of protectiveness and love you feel for them will be unmistakable. It has always been so.”

Carlos sighed, and nodded resignedly. He knew in his heart that she spoke truth. He leaned forward and gathered her tiny frame into his arms. “Adios, abuela,” he whispered, “I love you.”

Abuela slowly pulled out of Carlos’ embrace. “I know,” she replied. “I love you too. Be safe.”

Carlos promised to do his best as he rose from his chair and walked through the front door to the rest of his lives.

|

In the years that followed, Carlos’ life was easy and simple, falling into reliable patterns. He aced sniper training, made friends, and found ways to hide his otherness by using his leave to find isolated forests and jungles to roam as a jaguar. Carlos had even earned the nickname, ‘Cougar’ for his skills in stealth and unarmed combat. And so it was that just when Cougar began to grow complacent, he was reassigned.

The team Cougar was drafted into was unofficially called “The Losers”. Each Loser had a specialty that made them invaluable to the military like Cougar’s sniper training and Corporal Jensen’s affinity with and knowledge of technology. Unfortunately, the other members of the unit had unruly temperaments and a tendency to disobey orders.

Cougar was sure that his reassignment was a mistake. He was nothing like these thugs with their bad manners and poor discipline. But then he got to know them. Service records couldn’t tell Cougar about Pooch’s love for his wife or Jensen’s sweet sense of humor and penchant for loud shirts. And they certainly didn’t mention the undying loyalty and wry affection Roque bestowed on Clay with such intensity that it almost bordered on ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’. Slowly but surely, he found his place within the unit and came to realize one day while staring through the scope of his rifle on a hill in Kandahar that there was nowhere he’d rather be.

|

Carlos “Cougar” Alvarez was twenty-eight years old and sometimes he felt as though he were twenty eight hundred years old instead. He survived the crippling guilt of cold, dry, nightmarish caves in Afghanistan and witnessed the deaths of nearly thirty Bolivian children at Max’s hands. He’d dug a bullet out of a cursing Roque’s shoulder with a Swiss army knife and sewed it shut with a fish hook and some dental floss. The only anesthesia or disinfectant to be found was a bottle of Jack Daniels which he administered in the time honored “half in, half on” tradition. He collected scars as badges of honor and accolades like anchors in his soul. No man should be rewarded for death and ruin whispered the voices of the dead in the back of his fractured mind. Cougar had been in the military for many years and met many people in many shades of grey and never seemed to get any closer to finding his corazon.

Sometimes Cougar thought his life was nothing but death and pain and an early grave. But then he looked to his six and there was the most extraordinary man Cougar had ever met. Corporal Jake Jensen was the opposite of Cougar in almost every way. Talkative, bright, loud, an unremittingly enthusiastic, he cast light into ever dark corner Cougar had ever had. He was always ready with a joke or a gentle touch, offering comfort and displaying a surprising proficiency for languages including Spanish. When Cougar asked how he had gained such knowledge, all Jensen would do is smile and say, “You talk in your sleep, man. Learned all I needed to from you.”

Jensen was pure vitality, sweet and outgoing and everything Cougar had ever wanted. He wanted Jensen so much it ached deep in his chest, especially. Cougar wondered if that was the sign his grandmother had told him about. His ache, his need for Jensen, who he now believed was his mate, reached unbearable levels when others approached him, touched him, sullied him. With each successive encounter Cougar could feel his control slipping, rage and jealousy coming to the forefront and almost triggering the change.

|

Things finally came to a head a few months after the disastrous shootout at the Port of Los Angeles. The team had temporarily settled in the Northeast so that Jensen and Pooch could be close to their families while the Losers planned their next move. Clay and Aisha had rented a small house together while Jensen moved in with his sister, affording Cougar a delightful opportunity to live alone for the first time ever. The team settled in quickly and fell into an easy routine of reconnaissance, planning, and hanging out at the James Joyce, a nearby Irish pub with good food and better drinks.

Life was pretty much perfect, or as perfect as life as a Loser could ever be. Except for one tiny detail. Every single time they went to the pub some pendejo tried to hit on Jensen, *his* Jensen. Men, women, teenagers, everyone seemed to want to talk to, joke with, and most damningly touch his mate. It was getting ridiculous.

One night, Cougar simply couldn’t handle it. He snapped. He and Jensen were sitting next to each other at the bar, drinking cheap beer and sharing a basket of hot wings. Cougar leaned his elbow on the table and rested his head in his hand, content simply to watch Jensen and bask in his presence. His mate was telling some elaborate story with no discernable point and gesturing expansively when a stranger came up to talk to Jensen. Cougar had no idea what the man was saying, too busy watching Jensen and trying to overcome the rushing sound in his ears. Jensen started out friendly, smiling and making conversation, but his body language became stiffer and tenser as the man pressed into his space.

Cougar decided it was time for him to step in. “Back off,” he stated firmly, voice low and calm. Jensen pressed back against Cougar, silently thanking his for the assist. But the strange man refused to take the less-than-subtle hint and step away. He pressed further into Jensen’s space while Jensen went very still.

Well, if this hijo de puta wasn’t backing off, then Cougar had no problems escalating. He slid off of his stool and ducked around Jensen to stand protectively in front of him. “He’s not interested,” Cougar said, hoping for Jensen’s sake that the guy would back off. His hopes were dashed when the man tried to reach around him and grab a hold of Jensen. That wasn’t happening. Cougar grabbed the man’s wrist and twisted it until the stranger was forced to turn his back to lessen the pain. It was only when he had extracted a firm promise that no means no and a sincere apology that Cougar let the creep go.

After watching the intruder leave, Cougar turned to face Jensen. His eyes were huge and his mouth formed a comical ‘o’. “Come, let’s go home,” Cougar instructed gently when it seemed that Jensen was planning to stand there and stare at him all night.

They exited the bar and walked a few blocks to Cougar’s nearby apartment. Once they were safely ensconced in the apartment and settled on the couch, Cougar took Jensen’s chin in his hand. “Never again,” he said. “I don’t ever want to see someone touch what is mine for the rest of our lives.”

Jensen blinked and pulled out of Cougar’s grip. “Does this have anything to do with the fact that you turn into a huge ass cat sometimes?” he asked. At Cougar’s dumbfounded look, he laughed, “Smart, deadly, and super hot you may be, but subtle you are *not*.”

“That doesn’t bother you?” Cougar asked, not daring to hope one way or the other.

“Of course not,” Jensen scoffed. “It’s actually really cool! Maybe you can show me sometime.”

Cougar nodded dumbly, unable to believe that he had worried for so long about nothing. This was turning out better than he could ever have expected.

“Hey, Cougs,” Jensen said, startling him out of his thoughts. “If I’m yours then I think I’ve been missing out on a few of the perks.”

Cougar raised his eyebrows and Jensen giggled. “Like what, corazon?” he asked.

“Like this,” Jensen said, swinging his legs over Cougar’s hips to straddle his lap.

He bent down and touched his lips to Cougar’s tentatively at first, but then with more confidence as he felt Cougar respond. He smiled into their kiss, sliding one hand into Cougar’s hair and placing the other on Cougar’s shoulder for balance. Cougar growled and wrapped his hands around Jensen’s hips, pulling him tighter to his own body. He licked the seam of Jensen’s lips and thoroughly explored his open mouth, tangling their tongues together and biting his lower lip gently before pulling back.

Jensen swayed towards him, trying to reach his lips again. Cougar smirked and flipped Jensen onto his back with a twist of his hips. “You sure?” he asked as he slid Jensen’s shirt over his head, pausing to admire the beautiful body he had uncovered. Jensen groaned and nodded vigorously, more than ready for anything Cougar had to offer.

Cougar pulled Jensen into a sitting position on the couch and knelt before him on floor, making quick work of the rest of Jensen’s clothes. It wasn’t until Jensen was completely naked that he spread his legs and settled between them. He nuzzled Jensen’s hip, licking and sucking until he’d marked his mate to his satisfaction. Jensen flailed a little until Cougar steadied him by holding his hips down with a strong grip. He leaned in and licked the head of his dick, tasting him and luxuriating in the experience. He lavished Jensen’s dick with licks and kisses, paying special attention to sensitive spots he found along the way. Jensen was keening, moaning out encouragement and praise, telling Cougar how much he loved this, loved him.

Cougar thought such sweet words deserved a reward. He stopped teasing and swallowed Jensen at last, taking as much as he could in his mouth and wrapping one hand around the rest. He used every trick he knew, licking the vein beneath the head, sucking strongly, humming, until Jensen came with a shout, hands fisting into the couch cushions to avoid grabbing onto Cougar.

Cougar swallowed, leaning back onto his heels and surveying the damage he’s wrought. Jensen was a panting, gasping mess, sweaty and filthy and the most beautiful Cougar had ever seen him. Jensen reached down and urged him onto the couch next to him. He flopped his head onto Cougar’s shoulder and just sat there for a little while, recovering.

“What about you?” Jensen asked, reaching his hand down to Cougar’s fly, intending to reciprocate. He already felt bad enough leaving Cougar in the lurch while he got off.

“You can make it up to me, mi amor. I promise to be gentle,” Cougar replied, leveraging himself off the couch and taking Jensen with him. He led Jensen to his bedroom, smiling at the thought of all the things he could do to him, with him, when they got to his bed.


End file.
